Blogging, the New Media

I haven't been writing much lately. I've read and I've thought a lot about what blogging has become. It's alright, things evolve. However, accepting evolution doesn't mean you have to accept each element of it.

Here's the thing. I've read a document that one of my coworker suggested me. The book called Pourquoi bloguer (Why blog), gathers the point of view of 10 different bloggers. One of them, Michelle Blanc wrote the chapter Bloguer pour vendre (Blog to sell) and tells you learn all there's to know to become a blogospherical superstar.

The essay first impressed me by the whole strategy behind it, but somehow it hurt me too. Sure blogging probably brings an new ethic aspect in selling. The problem, from my point of view, is what selling would brings to blogging.

Blogging used to be writing and hoping to be read by a few. Now, bloggers look for success (page views, followers, ranking in search engines). To be successful, here's what you have to do.

1- Subscribe to the most influent bloggers.

2- Write your first post. Then write a second post in which you will refer to the first one using a hyperlink.

3- Pretend that you read all of your subscription or really do it (you'll probably have to quit your job if you want to have that kind of time).

4- Whenever you can, leave short comments on the influent blogs you subscribed to. If possible, when commenting, refer to your own posts using hyperlinks.

5- Repeat step 4 until influent bloggers subscribe to your blog, and eventually refer to your post in their own.

6- Start over at step 2.

I wonder how fun is it to read somebody always referring to himself. Are the links there because we wouldn't understand your point without already have read the previous stuff (and the previous, and the previous)? Is it leading to an optional complement of information? Or is the whole post only there to support this link leading to another empty post with another link in it?

This new way of doing leaves me with the idea that blogging will soon be like any other media. People will pay good money to have higher quality of blog for their brand and reach already built audiences, networks of bloggers will arrange around sales representative with their network of clients. Struggling to take part in the project but not having the means and time to do so, people from the public who used to be active will end up asking "Why bother?", will just sit and happily consume what blogging has become: a new media.

The new TV reality

Just watched a an episode of Le Zèbre, a Web-TV channel from Kartel TV. The episode was about reality TV versus the "traditionnal TV" (on a Web-TV, ain't that twisted?).

I was listening to actress Charlotte Laurier who kind of looked annoyed by the reality TV trend while trying to looked unconcerned. How could she not be annoyed? She's an artist working hard just to live on her passion and the odds are now against that goal.

But then, it kind of occured to me that it was just History repeating. The feeling must have been the same for the painter artists in the photography early history. What took days and nights to recreate was now available in one click (and a long wait) and right out of a... machine!?!? As my photography college teacher used to say: "People had to realize that the machine wasn't walking, aiming and taking pictures by itself before they could admit photography was some kind of a form of art."

So maybe, and I might be too optimistic, reality TV is just a new form of TV that couldn't possibly be compared with traditionnal TV.

TV is changing, we might just end up with a new word to define one or the other.

First Post

First post is somehow strange. It's the one you invest more time to elaborate and the one that's the less read at first but ends up being the most read.

So, I decided to start this thing to go with the flow and try to speak my mind on the world I work in: communications. When I say "go with the flow" I mean "go back". I've been blogging since 2003 (I was on LiveJournal back then), but then my life changed when I started working. I got bored to talk about my personnal life over the Web, and my new position in an Montreal communication agency made me feel uncomfortable to talk about my professionnal life. I mean, who was I to talk about a universe I haven't even strated to explore? Therefore, this blog had no longer a reason to exist.

And now, who have I become to make me believe I could share my opinion on communication? I'd dare anyone answering this question without denying. I am no exception: I don't feel like my opinions are worth more than any other. I think I just have more guts than I used to, so now I dare to share, expecting to lear from everybody's input. You can't win if you don't play.

Other question you may have: why is this blog in English? Many reasons, maybe none of them is good. Firstly, I think I could increase my aptitudes in English. Secondly, I assume English is the Web's main spoken language. Thirdly, I know French people from the province of Quebec will be able to read me in English while the Rest Of Canada would probably not be able to read in French (no judgements, just statistics). Finally, the meanest part of me told me my lack of vocabulary will decrease the variety of words in my posts so I should end up with a better ranking in word search (no judgements, just statistics). This last reason was a joke: you can laugh.